Application developers on Linux have been looking with great interest at the upcoming Reiser4 file system developed by Hans Reiser. Although there is a great number of currently supported file systems on Linux (some better than others, some better at other things than some…) Reiser goes along way in fixing one of the most persistent bugs in file system theory; that of handling small file efficiently.
A great article discussing some of the possibilities that become possible with the Reiser4 can be found here. The longer I work with computers the more I am convinced of the accuracy of *nix style OS development. Microsoft seems to agree also; with recent moves to extend the command line, create a command line only server OS, change the way the system looks at data (that of all file/folders/devices/drivers being objects), etc.. etc.. etc.. Heck, given enough time and money Microsoft will invent…. Unix!